Carúpano Kitchen, a Venezuelan food business currently operating inside Foodie Labs, plans to open its first standalone restaurant in St. Petersburg at 1040 4th St. N. by mid-November.
Andrea Osorio started the business with her mother, Diann Cedeño Osorio, at Foodie Labs, a commercial kitchen incubator at 515 22nd St. S. in the Warehouse Arts District. The name Carúpano comes from Cedeño Osorio’s hometown in Venezuela.
The recipes traveled before the business did. According to the restaurant’s website, Cedeño Osorio’s arepas became popular when Osorio was in high school, when sharing the homemade food eventually grew into selling 15 to 20 arepas a day.
Osorio relaunched the business with her mother after spending 15 years in the United States. The restaurant’s website describes Carúpano Kitchen as a “love letter” to her mother’s cooking, her family’s history and the flavors of the Venezuelan coast.
The arepa anchors the menu, with a variety of naturally gluten-free corn cakes that are grilled or fried, split open and filled with different ingredients. Options include La Reina Pepiada, a chicken salad with avocado; La de Chicharrón; and a short rib arepa slow-cooked in a wine reduction.
The menu also includes empanadas filled with beef, chicken, cheese, seafood or cazón, a shark preparation popular along Venezuela’s coast. Tequeños, morcilla and rotating family soups round out the menu, with vegetarian and vegan options also available.
Osorio told St. Pete Rising that the new restaurant will keep the business’ core recipes while adding healthier options for the lunch crowd.
Until the move, customers can continue ordering made-to-order arepas at Foodie Labs. The current location will close once the standalone restaurant opens.
